South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) is introducing a new benchmark portfolio framework that will allow the pension giant to quickly invest in new asset classes instead of being shackled by a rigid investment strategy.
Seo Won-joo, chief investment officer of the NPS, said the current framework is limited to seven predefined asset classes including Korean and foreign stocks, bonds and alternatives.
The new framework will have a mix of risk and safe haven assets and offer greater flexibility to construct the investment portfolio, and the pension fund will be able to invest in new assets as long as preset risk-return requirements are met, Seo told reporters at a briefing on March 11.
It will initially be applied to alternative investments and then expanded to equities and bonds over time.
“The adoption of a new benchmark portfolio will enable us to swiftly incorporate new asset classes that were previously challenging to access due to the rigid structure of our investment strategy,” Seo said.
He didn’t say when the framework will be implemented.
The NPS is the world’s third largest pension fund, with 1,150 trillion won (US$798 billion) of assets.